Mobile Commerce: State of the Market

Although fragmented, fraught with challenges, and hugely complex because of the large number and variety of companies involved, mobile commerce is growing at a breathtaking pace. Gartner shows global mobile transaction volume and value averaging 42% annual growth between 2011 and 2016, and the consultancy forecasts a market worth $617 billion with 448 million users by 2016. In November, IDC said that worldwide mobile payments will reach $1 trillion by 2017. This forecast includes all mobile commerce components, including payments, shopping and transfer. And the U.S. Federal Reserve announced that, between March 2011 and March 2012, 21% of smartphone owners had done some form of mobile banking.

Almost all businesses can take part in the mobile commerce ecosystem. However, choosing the right approach requires understanding whom to partner with now and in the future and what technologies and approaches are most likely to succeed.

A huge variety of companies are jostling for position in this space: Internet giants including Amazon, Apple and Google; cellular operators; financial institutions such as banks, credit card companies and PayPal; and new entrants like Square and LevelUp.

In this report, we’ll begin with a market overview; outline various ways in which businesses can implement mobile commerce; discuss the key players, industry initiatives and mobile payment types, such as NFC-based wallets versus cloud-based approaches; touch on mobile banking; and then consider application development approaches, including Web-based ­versus mobile apps, as well as mobile application platforms. We’ll conclude with general ­recommendations. (S6600313)